Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Dec 2022
Prevalence and characteristics of frequent presenters to Auburn Hospital emergency department.
Frequent presenters (FPs) to the ED are common and contribute to ED overcrowding. Our aim was to identify the proportion of FPs over a 12-month period and to investigate the sociodemographic, clinical and attendance characteristics of FPs. ⋯ FPs represent a significant proportion of ED visits, yet a small proportion of ED patients. Our findings suggest that identifying ways to provide targeted services to older FPs may reduce the overall rates. The differences between language groups and FP highlights the importance of social context and culture when developing targeted interventions.
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There has been great interest regarding tele-emergency care (TEC) and its utility following the COVID-19 pandemic. We have seen a roll out of multiple TEC services across Australia, operating in isolation, without coordination and under differing models of care, creating the potential for an uncoordinated, inefficient healthcare system. We outline a potential framework under which TEC services might function as part of the current system, defining potential strategies that may be used to appropriately coordinate the acute care of select patients outside of the ED as well as improve the efficiency of the physical ED itself.
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Emerg Med Australas · Dec 2022
Clean the skin: Reducing blood culture contamination in the emergency department.
To determine whether blood culture contamination (BCC) rates could be decreased in the ED by an educational programme. ⋯ This educational intervention focusing on skin clean time did not significantly decrease BCC rates in a setting of an already low (<3%) BCC rate.
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Emerg Med Australas · Dec 2022
Structured evaluation of a virtual emergency department triage model of care: A study protocol.
A new virtual ED service was introduced into a hospital network in the northern suburbs of Melbourne in response to changing needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 'virtual ED' utilises a telehealth model as a means of assessment for appropriately selected patients to facilitate either complete care or navigation into streamlined pathways for ongoing care, in some cases bypassing the ED entirely where appropriate. The proposed study aims to evaluate the implementation of the model and identify future improvement opportunities, assess the impact on traditional health service delivery processes and patient experience, and determine the acceptability of the 'virtual ED' model of care. ⋯ This project will support the delivery of care to ED patients by evaluating the 'virtual ED' model of care.